


Past Lives

by MultiFandomAnon



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Emma is an idiot in love, F/F, Hostage Situations, Might become a two parter, Oneshot, Pre-Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Pre-Relationship, Protective Henry, Regina is secretly pining after Emma, Sexual Abuse, Violence, love all around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-28 07:56:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20775167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MultiFandomAnon/pseuds/MultiFandomAnon
Summary: Emma's past catches up with her in Storybrooke, and goes after the people she loves most even though she can't even admit it to herself.





	Past Lives

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. This is PRE-SQ, it's graphic and very much triggering to people who have gone through assault. So proceed with caution because your mental health is more important.
> 
> So I know I've had this posted before, but I just needed to fix some of the things, and I wanted to go through it again and I ended up adding about 3000 words to this one just to make sure it was all good and fixed. I also know that the ending was left open so that I could eventually come back but I just want to know what you think? Should I add another part to this? 
> 
> Enjoy!

Regina breathed out a sigh as she leaned back in her chair, staring out at the window at the darkening sky.

The days grew longer, but she still had the feeling there weren’t enough hours in her days, not enough time to spend with her family.

She spent days, even weeks, catching up on her mayoral duties whenever something magical happened, and even though no one complained, she hated it when she was behind on everything.

She closed her eyes, her head throbbing as she folded her hands over her stomach. She took another breath to clear her mind and force herself to relax for a moment.

And then her office door opened. She opened her eyes and smiled when Henry came into her line of sight. Her heart seemed to grow three sizes at just the sight of him.

“Hey Mom. Are you ready for dinner?”

“Of course I am,” Regina replied as she pushed herself up from the chair. Her smile never left her face as she made her way toward him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I promised Emma we’d pick her up, are you up for a stroll?”

“I have been looking forward to it all day,” Henry replied as he offered her his arm.

After pulling on her coat, she linked her arm in his and let him lead her outside, closing up behind her as they went.

Wednesday was a family day, Henry, Emma and Regina together. After everything that happened between them, they had decided that they needed one day a week to catch up and just spend time together.

For a moment, Regina turned to look at Henry as they walked. They hadn’t spent much time alone in the past week, and she was still surprised every time she saw a change she hadn’t seen before.

“How was your day?”

“It was okay.”

“You’re...you’re short with me. Did something happen?”

She wanted to ask if she’d done something wrong. Even though she knew that things had been really good between them lately, her insecurities always got the best of her in the worst and unexpected moments...like this one.

She watched as the muscle in his jaw jumped before he shrugged and then sighed. “I texted you earlier...but I think you were busy and you didn’t even read it.”

“Oh, Henry...” She breathed as she patted her pockets. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that she had forgotten her phone at the office...again. “Darling, would you mind walking back with me?”

“You forgot your phone again, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she pursed her lips and glanced up at him before she stopped walking. “I don’t mind if you’d rather go ahead, I can meet you at home.”

Henry shook his head, and turned around before he offered her his arm again. They had settled into a steady pace again when he sighed. “I...I have a date this weekend.”

She looked up at him in surprise, and blinked quickly even as she tried to hide her reaction. She knew he was growing up, it had just never occurred to her that he would want to date anyone in Storybrooke. She’d always expected him to want to move as far away from the town as possible.

“That...that’s great, dear. Who are you seeing?”

Henry flushed and looked down at his feet for a moment before he looked back at her. “Um...you remember Ava? Back when Emma got to Storybrooke she was kind of...homeless?”

For a moment, Regina couldn’t remember anyone by the name, until she remembered the mechanic and his two kids. “Oh. You mean Ava Tillman?”

Henry hummed. “Yea. She’s actually really cool and we’ve been hanging out, making out homework together.”

She took a deep breath, and forced herself to smile even though she didn’t really know how to react to any of what he was telling her. Her son was growing up and she didn’t know how to handle it.

“Well, I do hope you’ll have fun...she seems like a nice girl,” she told him and she meant it. Ava didn’t seem like a bad girl, even though she’d been caught stealing a couple of times. She had stopped when Michael Tillman had taken them in.

“I’m sure you’ll have rules I need to follow.”

Regina huffed even as her cheeks flushed. “I’m not that strict, am I?”

He chuckled and gave her a gentle nudge. “You kind of are, mom...but I love you anyway. Emma said to talk to you about it all because she didn’t really know and she didn’t want to overstep or something.”

Regina hummed and smiled as she fished her keys out of her pocket. “Smart woman.”

“She can be,” Henry murmured with a smile as she unlocked the door and then he followed her into her office. Neither of them noticed that the door didn’t close all the way.

She unlocked her office door and stepped inside, her hand still tucked into his grasp. “Turn on the lights for me, dear.”

Henry did as he was told and then stepped aside, watching her as she narrowed her eyes and glanced around. The dull throbbing in her head returned in full force and she sighed as she tried to remember where she’d last seen her phone.

“Where did you last use it?”

She shook her head, and rubbed her hand against her forehead. “I remember using...Emma called, and I was still at my desk...but I don’t remember where I left it. I just remember putting it on silent because there was still so much I needed to do.”

“Front desk?” Henry offered, and she shook her head, even as she stepped back toward the door. She might have left it lying around at the front desk after all.

“It was...earlier, right after Emma called…” she rubbed two fingers over her forehead and sighed. “I don’t remember, and you can’t call it because I put it on silent after that.”

She stepped up to the counter, and jumped when someone cleared their throat behind her. She turned, and watched as a tall, broad shouldered man stepped into her line of sight. She lifted a brow, and then looked him over.

“Can I help you?”

“You can,” he grunted out, his voice heavy, low, and enough to send shivers down her spine. He meant danger, and she wanted nothing more than to grab Henry and go. “You’re the mayor, right? Regina Mills.”

She heard movement behind her, and she knew Henry was close.

“That’s me.”

The man smirked, and her knees started shaking. His eyes promised pain. She was about to call out to Henry when the man shoved her backward with force. She slammed into the doorway, and she grunted in pain as her back started throbbing immediately.

She yelped in surprise when he grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her further into the office. If Henry hadn’t been there, she would have dropped to the floor with the force of it.

Even as he stumbled back, trying to keep them both from falling, he glared up at the man. “Hey!”

Regina pushed herself upright and turned to look at her son with a stern look on her face. “Henry...don’t.”

“Shut up, kid.” The man pushed the door as he stepped into the office, and it closed loudly, the glass shaking. He stepped toward her desk, and she held out her arm to stop Henry from getting in his face, before he turned back toward the door and locked it.

The keys disappeared into his pocket and Regina cleared her throat as she tried to think of something to say.

“You were looking for me...is there anything I can do for you?” Regina straightened out and stepped forward, pulling her arm free of Henry’s grasp. She would _not_ let him get hurt.

The man turned to them then, and clenched his jaw as he glanced at Henry and then back at Regina. The danger in his eyes made them appear almost black, and it reminded Regina of a past she would rather forget.

“You can send a message...I didn’t expect the kid to be here but I’ll have to deal with it.” He lifted a brow when Regina stepped toward him, and she almost stopped.

“What kind of message?” She asked, as she stepped closer still.

“Christ, woman...do you have a fucking death wish?” He grunted as he shoved her, making her stumble. “Don’t come any closer.”

Henry huffed out in annoyance and pursed his lips when both Regina _and_ the stranger turned toward him. Regina bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying anything to calm Henry, knowing it would only hurt her in the long run.

With everything that had been going on in Storybrooke lately, she knew there was nothing she could do _magically_, even if she wanted. She needed Emma for that, and Emma wasn’t here.

She gritted her teeth, and then bit the inside of her cheek again as she turned back around toward the man.

She needed him to lose sight of Henry, and keep all his attention on her so that Henry could be safe. “What’s your name?”

She moved away from Henry even as the man glared at her, and she lifted a brow in expectation. He grunted, “Daniel.”

She inhaled sharply before she swallowed, stepping back. Her heart sank into her stomach as another man, gentler and softer, came to mind at the sound of his name. “Daniel.”

It had been a while since she’d thought about her first and only True Love. She missed him dearly, but it was getting easier every day.

“I don’t know why that’s so important, but I don’t like it one bit,” Daniel said and then he moved. He was quick on his feet even though he was so big and it was a surprise to both Henry and Regina. He had his hand around her throat before either of them could even react to it.

She gasped for breath and while his hand wasn’t as tight as it could be, the lack of oxygen was quickly getting to her. She grabbed his arm, and dug her nails into his skin trying to get him to let go. “What...What is it...you want?”

His hand tightened, and Regina gasped again. The sound she made was close to a wheeze, and she coughed. His face contorted into an angry mask. “I want you to call the Sheriff...and make sure she gets here.”

Henry, sweet Henry, grunted. “Let her go, you idiot. She can’t call if you choke her to death.” If she could, she would have told him to stop talking. He was only making it worse, even though that wasn’t his intention. The hand around her throat tightened even more and stopped her from even making a sound.

“Shut up!” Daniel yelled, shaking his arm and Regina. His hand tightened even more and for a split second, she wondered if he would kill her right there and then.

And then he let her go.

She dropped to the floor and gasped for breath between sobbing coughs, tears rolling down her cheeks as her hand covered the already sensitive skin of her throat.

Henry dropped down next to her, his hand on her shoulder. “Mom?”

“Call your Sheriff, Mayor Mills...and you and your boy’ll be fine.”

“Mom, what’s going on?” Henry asked her softly as he rubbed a hand over her back, soothing her and helping her breath at the same time.

“You,” Daniel growled all of a sudden, and then picked up Henry by the scruff of his neck as if he weighed nothing. “You weren’t supposed to be here, but you are and I know exactly what to do with you now.”

Henry lifted a brow and Regina coughed again as she tried to warn Henry before he said anything stupid. “Are you sure? You look like an idiot...”

Daniel, luckily, didn’t take the bait and Regina was grateful for it as she took slow, deep breaths. She wiped at her tears and glared at him, forcing herself to steady herself before she did something to hurt herself or Henry.

Everything in her body told her to fight for Henry, but she wasn’t about to get either of them hurt because she didn’t think things through.

“You sit here, kid...and keep your mouth shut,” Daniel pushed him onto Regina’s desk chair behind her desk. Henry opened his mouth to protest, before he looked at Regina. She shook her head, trying to convey carefulness to him.

He quieted down right away.

Daniel worked slowly, as if he knew he had all the time in the world. He pulled the landline out of the wall as if he was acting in a movie, and tied Henry to the chair with the cords.

“I’ll have to find my phone,” Regina murmured when he turned toward her. If only he stopped paying attention to Henry, she knew she could handle anything.

Then fucking go find it.”

She shakily stood to her feet and rubbed a hand against her throat. Everything in her body seemed to throb, and her heart was pounding in her chest.

“You know, while I’m searching...why don’t you tell me what you’re here for?” She asked with surprisingly steady voice, before she pushed on even as she opened the first cabinet. “Surely, a Sheriff of a small town like Storybrooke can’t have done anything to you?”

His face darkened and Regina knew she’d pushed too far. She knew she should have kept her mouth shut as he stepped toward her. She moved on to the next cabinet, glad for her training under her mother. It had taught her to mask her fear, which came in very handy.

“She wasn’t always the Sheriff of a small town,” his voice was deep and in any other situation, she might have even found it pleasant. He followed her around the office, and she knew he didn’t need anything to come off threatening. “She was a bounty hunter for a while.”

He really _was_ after Emma, then. Regina slowly breathed in and swallowed. “She was?” Her voice only shook a little and she was proud of herself. She leaned forward, and finally, after going around her office twice, she found her phone. It lay on the conference table as if it had been there the whole time and she wondered if it had been. How had she been able to miss it?

She didn’t want to call Emma, she didn’t want to get her into more trouble, but she also didn’t want Daniel to hurt her son.

“Yea...she fucked me over and I’m here to make her pay...finally.” He glanced over to where she’d been staring at and growled. He had seen her phone, and there was nothing she could do to stop him from shoving her toward it. “Careful, you don’t want me to use _you_ as the message, do you?”

Regina stumbled as she moved toward the phone, still watching his every movement. “Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing?”

He pushed her again, rougher this time and she clenched her jaw when her hip connected with the table. “What I’m doing, is I’m trying not the beat the crap out of your stubborn mouth, lady, now call the fucking Sheriff.”

Regina knew when to give in, and she knew there wasn’t anything she could do to deny him what he wanted. Because despite the fact that she didn’t want Emma to get involved, she really wanted to keep Henry safe and she couldn’t guarantee it if she kept pushing back.

She unlocked her phone and scrolled though her contact list, slowly. When she found Emma’s name, she hovered her finger over it and glanced up at Daniel. His dark eyes and scowl made her shiver and she knew, one last protest would end in her or Henry hurting.

“Why are you even using me as bait?” She asked as she pressed her finger to the screen and moved it over to the green call button. “You could’ve gone after her boyfriend and would have gotten the message across even more clearly.”

Daniel laughed, his head thrown back and his hand covering his stomach. “Her boyfriend means _nothing_ to her...you’re the one that she loves.”

She put the phone to her ear right after pressing the call button, and her chest clenched when she was sent to voicemail right away. Her eyes burned with salt and she closed them, trying to push back her tears.

Henry made a sound and Regina bit her lip to stop herself from warning him. “Looks to me like Ma is smarter than you are.”

Her eyes snapped open at his blatant disrespect and she swallowed thickly as she tried to shield him from view. Daniel growled, and glanced between Henry and Regina before he narrowed his eyes. “The next time you open your goddamn mouth, and annoy me, this happens.”

For a moment, nothing happened, and she turned toward him. He pulled his fist back, and before she could shield herself, he slammed it into her stomach with a smirk on his face.

She stumbled back, the air leaving her lungs with a _whoosh_, pain radiating outward from her stomach. She doubled over, groaning as she pressed her hand tightly to somehow soothe it.

Her nostrils flared as she fought for air, and she swallowed audibly when she heard Henry struggle in his chair. “You fucking asshole...how dare you?”

Daniel chuckled, and then pulled her back up by her hair. She whimpered, her hands still pressed into her abdomen. “He’s not really worried about hurting you, is he?” He asked before he slapped her hard enough to make her see stars.

“Henry...” She blinked hard to clear her vision and yelped when Daniel tightened his grip on her hair. She couldn’t stop her fear from seeping into her voice and she knew she shouldn’t let him see any of it, but she needed Henry to stop talking, stop egging him on.

“Stop hurting her, please,” he struggled in his chair, and Daniel raised his hand again. “No! Please, don’t hurt her, please!”

Daniel let her go suddenly, and she stumbled back as she held one hand against her stomach, and pressed the other to her cheek. Everything hurt, and all she wanted was to take a long shower to wash this day off of her.

“Get your phone and call the Sheriff,” Daniel said, gesturing toward where her phone had fallen.

Regina struggled to take in a deep breath as she swallowed, her stomach tensing against the pain and her cheek throbbing as she bent over. She swiped her phone off of the floor, ignoring the whistle of appreciation from Daniel.

“You better hope she answers the phone this time,” Daniel said with an eyebrow raised. She shuddered when she looked up and saw the way he was watching her, his eyes lazily moving over her body, mentally undressing her.

Her mind blanched. She was willing to do a lot of things to keep Henry safe, but she wasn’t sure she could survive what he had planned if Emma didn’t answer her phone. Not again.

One look at her son told her he was aware of what that look meant exactly, and he looked close to throwing up. He shook his head and she forced herself to give him a comforting smile.

The second time she called, Emma’s phone went straight to voicemail again and Regina narrowed her eyes as her heartbeat sped up. She quickly tried again, but this time she called the station.

Daniel stepped closer, his eyes darkened with arousal as he breathed in deeply, and Regina held her breath. She hoped against hope that Emma, or anyone else really, would pick up the phone.

On the fifth ring, she heard a click and Daniel moved even closer, his body heat wrapping around her. “I don’t think she’s going to answer.”

Her eyes burned with salt right before a tear rolled down her cheek. She gasped in a sob, and closed her eyes.

“Regina? What’s going on?”

Regina gasped at the sound of Emma’s voice and she looked up at Daniel, her heart skipping a beat at the sight of him still.

“Emma,” she breathed as she looked back down at her feet, the pain in her body intensifying as her heartbeat sped up.

“Put her on speaker,” Daniel murmured close to her ear and she jumped, her throat closing up around her fear. She pulled the phone away from her ear, but she wasn’t fast enough according to Daniel, who ripped it out of her hand and put it on speaker.

“Emma—”

“Do you remember me, Swan?”

The static sound of Emma’s silence stretched on and Daniel moved closer to Regina threateningly, his body almost pressed to hers.

“Daniel Copper...” Emma’s voice sounded breathless and Regina wondered what she remembered. She could vaguely remember Emma telling her something about Daniel Copper, but she couldn’t remember much. She hadn’t even connected the name, because it had made her think of _her_ Daniel.

What Regina remembered, was the bare minimum. The reason Emma had been chasing him had been because he’d killed his wife in a domestic abuse situation. Emma had been working with a couple of men to catch him, and she’d been the one to find him in the end. He had followed her because she looked like his late wife, and she had found a way to turn on him as soon as she could, catching him and bringing him in for justice. Regina was sure that there was more to the story, because he wouldn’t be here if that was all.

“Yea...I think you remember me well enough, don’t you?” Daniel asked as he pressed himself against Regina. A shudder moved through her body at the feel of him against her and she closed her eyes even as bile rose in her throat.

“What do you want, Copper?” Emma asked, her voice hard. Daniel pressed himself against Regina again and Regina whimpered before she could stop herself. She _hated_ feeling powerless and she felt more than a little powerless.

“I want you to pay for fucking me over,” Daniel breathed, and Emma grunted. It covered up the sounds that Henry made as he struggled in the chair behind the desk, seeing the way that Daniel was pressed against Regina.

Her hands gripped the edge of the table and she bit her lip even as she felt the blood leave her face, when Daniel pushed again and this time let her feel how into it he was.

Emma’s office chair creaked and Emma cleared her throat. “Well, to be honest, you deserved it. You _did_ kill your wife because she didn’t want to sleep with you or whatever reason you had.”

Daniel dipped down his head, and Regina bit her lip hard enough to break the skin when she felt his hot breath on her neck before he pressed his lips to her skin.

“Ma...stop taunting him,” Henry called as he struggled against the cords again. Daniel lifted his head from Regina’s neck and growled, but Henry was bold and glared back at him. “He’s hurting Mom.”

There was more movement and Regina pressed herself as close to the table as she could, trying to get as much space between her and Daniel. He pressed forward though, and she shivered again when she could feel him pressed against her back.

She stayed silent as he held the phone closer to her face, and stared at the picture of Emma on her screen. “I wouldn’t mind doing my thing with this beautiful lady,” Daniel murmured and Henry huffed, fighting against the cords again.

Regina closer her eyes, trying not to think about the fact that Henry was right there, watching her be assaulted. Her stomach clenched and she swallowed thickly. Even as she prayed that Emma would find a way to get them out of here, she prepared for the worst.

“You wanted something...so what is it?” Emma’s voice was clear and steady, and it helped calm Regina down immensely even as Daniel was pressed against her. “We don’t need to make this even worse than it already is, do we?”

“I want you to feel the pain that I felt when you took my family away.” Daniel moved one of his hands up Regina’s arm she bit her lip again. “You took everything from me.”

“_You_ took everything from you, Daniel, when you killed your wife.”

“I loved her,” he growled before he wrapped his arm around Regina, his hand resting just below her collarbone. Regina clenched her jaw and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. She could hardly pull enough oxygen into her lungs as she listened to their conversation, and endured his touch.

“I’m sure you did,” Emma sighed. There was more movement in the background, and then a car door slammed. “Why did you take Henry and Regina?”

Daniel tensed and his fingernails dug into the skin through Regina’s shirt, causing her to flinch. “What are you doing?” He asked Emma, and Regina held her breath. What _was_ Emma doing?

Emma paused, and the static returned. “I’m on my way to you...you don’t want them, you want me.”

Regina could feel the way Daniel’s fingernails left half moons in her skin. It made her stomach clench at the thought of the dirt she’d seen beneath his long nails.

“I took the kid because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time...Regina, however...she’s the one that holds your heart, no matter how hard you try to deny it.”

After another silence, Emma cleared her throat. “You want me, not them.”

She didn’t even deny it. Regina felt her heart leap in her chest, because after all that time of wanting Emma but not feeling like she was good enough, she had hope that they could maybe...or did Emma just ignore his comment?

“Emma...don’t come here,” Regina murmured just loud enough, and then whimpered when Daniel’s arms tightened painfully around her.

Emma growled in frustration. “I know, but what choice do I have, Regina? I’ll be there in five minutes...so get ready, okay?” The engine of the car started and Regina knew that Emma was acting recklessly.

“Please, Emma...don’t do anything stupid,” she pleaded, and pushed against Daniel. He grunted, but she wasn’t sure if it was out of pleasure or annoyance. “Please, Emma.”

Daniel grabbed her hair, so close against her scalp that she could feel the skin pull taut. He leaned forward, his nose against hers as he growled at her. “Shut the fuck up.”

She whimpered, her throat tightening around the lump even as bile rose, and her skin growing cold. Daniel was quickly moving to the point of no return and she didn’t think there was anything any of them could do to stop him.

The pain in her scalp turned almost unbearable when he pulled even harder, and Emma spoke. “Don’t worry Regina...I’ll get you out of there. Daniel,” she addressed him and he loosened the grip on Regina’s hair just a tiny bit. “You’ve got to give me something if you want me to trust that you’ll let them go.”

“Who said I’ll let them go?” Daniel chuckled as he pushed his hips forward, his erection pressing against Regina’s hip. She breathed in and blew the air out slowly, her stomach clenching at the feeling. “I probably will let go of the kid...he’s a nuisance, but your lady love...I think I’m going to keep her.”

Before anyone could respond, Daniel pressed his lips to Regina’s in a bruising kiss, and her entire body froze against his. She knew better than to struggle against someone twice a big as she was, but the little sound of helplessness that left her was enough and he hummed against her, moving his hips.

When he pulled back, she swallowed thickly and blinked against the burning in her eyes. He grinned, and licked his lips. “I think she likes it!” He said, his eyes twinkling.

Henry struggled against the cords once more and when Daniel finally let her go and stepped back, she had to hold on to the conference table tightly to keep from falling over. Her knees felt like jelly and she didn’t even know how she stayed on her feet with the way her head was spinning.

“Mom,” Henry whimpered and she pursed her lips before she blinked quickly and turned toward him. She didn’t dare to look him in the eye, but opted to stare at the floor. “Are you okay?”

She inclined her head, and cleared her throat. “I’m fine.”

It was such an easy go-to sentence. _I’m fine_ was what she said when she had too much to go through in her mind, and she didn’t know how to explain how she really felt.

She glanced up at Daniel, her hand pressed to her stomach, and almost recoiled at the anger she saw on his face. She wanted to make herself as small as she could and she remembered this was exactly how she felt before, when she’d been married to the King.

“You can try and come in all you want, Swan...you’ll be too late anyway,” Daniel grumbled before he threw the phone against the wall. It shattered to pieces, and for a moment her own anger flared up at the audacity.

Daniel shifted then, and looked up at her before he grinned at her. She looked away, afraid he would see her anger, but he cleared his throat.

“What?” She asked, hoping it wasn’t as snappy as it sounded to her. “You just effectively ruined your chances to taunt her.”

Daniel shrugged his shoulders before he started moving toward her again, determined. “She’s always been the one that saves everyone isn’t she? The Savior? Just the fact that you’re here and she knows it, is taunting enough. She’s going to beat herself up over this...her inability to save you.”

She huffed, because it still annoyed her when Emma was called the Savior just because of a book. But Daniel didn’t even know about the book and the fact that Emma was the Savior, and that Emma was supposed to have saved the town from her evil clutches.

“You don’t know Emma.”

Daniel moved closer, shrugging his shoulders. “I know she would _love_ to fuck you.”

Regina moved away from the conference table, and turned her back to Henry so that she could hide her face from him as she looked up at Daniel, her fear finally winning and seeping through her mask.

“Emma doesn’t care about me like that,” Regina said softly, hurting as she did because she still hated to think about the fact that Emma didn’t want her. “She is in love with her boyfriend...she just tolerates me.”

“You keep telling yourself that, little lady,” Daniel chuckled.

Henry harrumphed. “You don’t even know who you’re talking to and what she’s capable of.”

Daniel moved quickly and she swallowed as she moved back. She knew she was trapped the moment the back of her thighs bumped into the desk, and she nearly fell backward on it when Daniel moved his knee between her legs and stood with his entire body pressed against her.

“Are you sure you want to keep talking, kid?” Daniel asked, his gaze dark as he glared at Henry. He moved his hips against her, and she swallowed the bile when she felt him harden against her again.

“Don’t look at him...look at me.” She knew she was successful when he moved again, this time harder. She held her hands against his chest, hoping to keep a little more distance between them. He turned his gaze toward her and she knew that she was in big trouble.

His eyes were dark and his breath heavy on her face, the stench of cigarettes on his breath making her queasy. She turned her head away, but he grabbed her chin between his fingers and smirked at him, knowing he’d won.

“Well...I don’t mind that one bit,” he murmured before he pressed his lips to hers in another bruising kiss. Her hands were caught between their bodies, and she couldn’t move.

She pressed her lips in a tight line, even though she knew that usually angered...

She struggled to stop that thought, and to turn her head as her heart thundered in her chest. When she succeeded, she took a deep, shuddering breath. “Stop, please.”

He hummed against her ear, his hips still pressed hard against her, before he pulled away from her to look at a struggling Henry. “Your mom seems shy in front of you...maybe I should take her somewhere private?”

She knew Henry would react to that. She also knew she had to be one step ahead of everything that was about to happen, and so she cleared her throat and got Daniel’s attention back.

“Why are you after Emma?”

Daniel rolled his eyes and she could even hear Henry huff as she asked for the most obvious, something she already knew.

“You know,” Daniel grunted before he jerked his hips again.

She pursed her lips as her stomach revolted against the thought of what he wanted. She looked down, pulling at the anger she should feel. There were so many instances that she felt too much, and this should be one of them. But all she felt was fear, a deep, gut wrenching fear that seemed to paralyze her.

“From what I heard...the story you told me just doesn’t seem sufficient enough for you to have spent all this time looking for her and then, when you find her, go after the people you think she loves most. I don’t understand,” she looked back up, and for the first time something other than fear moved through her veins. “Not even _I_ am that petty.”

He growled at her and Regina narrowed her eyes. She could feel her magic just below the surface, and she tried pull on it as much as she could without getting distracted from what she was trying to do.

“Mom—”

“You were the one to hurt your family, Daniel, and you can’t blame someone else for wanting to keep the rest of the world safe from someone like you.”

The slap wasn’t a surprise, because she had steeled herself against retaliation, but it still hurt and it still made her vision go blurry. His anger washed over her as he breathed into her face hard, and it made her sick to her stomach.

“You should learn how to keep your mouth shut, lady.”

Regina hummed and rolled her lips, the taste of her own blood a surprise even though she knew he had stopped holding back on his slaps. They always did when they got angry.

“I know,” she smiled even through the pain, and placed one hand flat on the desk behind her to steady herself. The room still spun around her and it was making it hard to concentrate on him. “I also know that your vendetta against Emma doesn’t make any sense.”

She moved her hand then, pushing at her magic with all her might. She didn’t get far, he was too close and he had a hand around her throat again without a second to spare. She gasped, and gagged against his grip, even as she heard Henry struggle again.

“Mom!”

Daniel tightened his grip and she lifted her free hand to his arm, scratching at every inch of skin she could get her nails in to try and pry him off of her.

He pulled her away from the desk and turned her back toward the conference table, and she stumbled backwards as he pushed her, his hand still tight enough around her throat to stop her flow of oxygen. Her lungs protested against the lack of it, and she tried with all her strength to pull some air into them.

“You have spunk, I like that. Emma...she had spunk...before she got here. This shit hole took the spunk right out of her, and she doesn’t even fight to move up in the food chain anymore.”

She didn’t expect the wall, but she grunted when her back slammed into it. She clawed at his arm, and tried to call forth her magic again but for the first time since she’d found herself in her office with Daniel, she could feel like her reserves had been drained.

She’d gone too far with him, and she would pay the price.

Every sound in the office sounded far away and she blinked, her vision blurring with tears.

“Please don’t kill her,” she heard Henry plead, but even his voice sounded too far away. She felt the first tears roll down her cheeks and she blinked hard before she turned toward her son.

_I love you_, she mouthed.

The edges of her vision turned black and she tried one last time to pull oxygen into her lungs, the gasping sound loud to her own ears.

And then Daniel let her go. She felt the way his hand left her throat, and she sank down to the floor, gasping for air and coughing when her lungs struggled to make use of the oxygen that suddenly flowed through them.

He gave her no time to recover, but pulled back his boot. She gasped and tried to move away, but the wall against her back stopped her from moving further. She had nowhere to go, and she watched as it moved toward her and then connected with her body, pain exploding in her chest.

She pulled herself into a ball, her stomach tight and her chest felt as though he had broken all of her ribs. The second kick connected to her arm, and she felt and _heard_ the sickening crack of the bone breaking--

\--And then several things happened at once. The sound of glass breaking made Regina pull herself even further away from him and his boot, and she could hear the panic in Henry’s voice as he screamed at Daniel to stop. And he _did_ stop. Regina looked up, her body hurting and her vision blurring even as she tried to see what had made him stop.

His eyes widened, and then he looked down at his chest. Deep red stained his shirt and bloomed, right where his heart was.

She closed her eyes just as he dropped to his knees and she could hear him fall on his side onto the floor. She breathed a sigh in relief when she realized that he wouldn’t crush her with his weight.

Her body throbbed, but most of all, her arm and her ribs hurt. The commotion around her wasn’t making it easier to breathe through the pain.

The glass door shattered the same way the window had, and for a split second Regina dreaded the paperwork she’d have to do to get this all straightened out.

Emma’s voice reached her ears before she could open her eyes and it soothed her, even though there was a panic laced in the tone of her voice.

“You take Henry and have him checked out, I’ll take Regina.”

Regina opened her eyes, and blinked in surprise when Emma’s face was already right in front of her. She hadn’t even heard her move, but then again, she felt completely out of it as the pain overwhelmed her.

“Emma?”

“Yea,” Emma murmured as she kneeled in front of her, and then slowly but surely helped Regina into a sitting position.

“Yea.” Emma moved and kneeled in front of her, slowly but surely helping Regina in a sitting position. Her arm throbbed something fierce and she quickly pursed her lips to stop herself from crying out, before pressing it against her chest and holding it with her other hand.

She glanced around her office and then her eyes landed on the slumped body of Daniel. She shuddered, and forced herself to turn back toward Emma. “Is he...”

Emma nodded her head. “He is...David said he wasn’t about to stop hurting you, and I didn’t want to take any chances.”

Regina took a breath, and realized that it sounded more like a sob. She swallowed, and then closed her eyes again, the burning only getting worse. “God...Emma,” she breathed even as the first tear rolled down her cheek, and she shook her head.

“I know,” Emma replied softly, and when Regina opened her eyes, the first tears rolled down Emma’s cheeks too. The moment was broken when she realized she hadn’t even seen Henry when she had glanced around the room, and she cleared her throat.

“Henry?”

A shuffling sounded near and she looked up just as Henry moved back into the office. His eyes moved over her and then stopped on her arm, his brows pulled together in a frown.

“You need to go to the hospital,” he said, before he turned toward Emma.

Emma smiled softly and inclined her head. “The ambulance is on its way...are you okay Kid?” She asked as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder. She missed his flinch, but Regina didn’t and she knew the nickname would never be the same again.

“I’m fine,” he murmured against her shoulder, and then swallowed thickly. “He was insane, Ma...he just kept hurting Mom.”

“I know...I know,” Emma gritted her teeth and her eyes darkened with anger. “You did the right thing, calling me. I heard everything that happened.”

Regina blinked and shook her head as the puzzle pieces fell into place, even though she had a hard time keeping her eyes open. “Wait...are you saying that you...is that why your phone went to voicemail?”

Emma hummed. “Yes, Henry called me as soon as he pushed you into the office, and then put his phone into his pocket. I could hear everything...I heard the whole thing.”

Regina blew out a breath and shook her head. “How come it took you so long to get here?” She asked, her voice void of any criticism. It wasn’t meant as complaining, she was genuinely curious.

Henry hummed. “And why did it sound like you were actually driving?” He asked, backing her up.

“I had to sell it to him,” Emma said with a shrug, gesturing to Daniel. Regina followed her gaze and shuddered at the sight of him before she looked back at Emma. “He didn’t know there were people out there because he was so focused on me, and waiting for me to get here. I needed to do what I could to keep you guys safe.”

Regina bit her lip when she felt a wave of vertigo crash over her, and she glanced around again. Her entire body hurt, but she needed to get out of there. “Can...can we go outside?”

She pushed forward even before Emma could reply, and she pushed though the dizziness and nausea to get herself up from the floor.

“Hey...easy,” Emma murmured even as she helped Regina get up. Regina stumbled, her arm throbbing, but she still managed to get up off the floor. “Do you think your arm is broken?”

Emma’s hand moved over her body as if checking for anything else that might be broken, and it made her magic react. It reached around inside her body and checked her bruises and then her arm.

“Yes, it’s very much broken,” Regina whimpered when her vision blurred again. She hadn’t needed her magic to know that the bone had cracked when she felt his boot connect to it, and she bit her lip to stop another whimper.

“Do you think we can heal it together?”

She took a slow breath and then wet her lips. “I’ll need a splint for my arm...and then we have to try...slow and steady.”

Before she knew it, David handed Emma something that looked like a part of the doorway and some bandaged from the first aid kit that Regina kept in her office.

Emma glanced at the items and then up at Regina. “Do you even know how to splint?”

“Of course I do...I’ve been in situations where I needed to splint myself,” Regina murmured as she gesture for Emma to line up the wood. When the silence pressed down on them, Regina looked up and narrowed her eyes with a sigh. “It’s...that’s a story for another time, okay?

Henry moved to stand behind her, giving her his strength and bodily support as she swayed on her feet. Emma inclined her head, and with some direction from Regina, splinted her arm.

Regina watched her, a soft smile playing on her lips at the sight of Emma’s tongue peeking out a tiny bit as she worked. It was endearing.

When Emma was done, she took Regina’s good hand. Their magic mingled and washed over Regina, making her feel warm and fuzzy inside. The bruises faded with ease and in no time, her body had stopped throbbing as bad.

As her ribs slowly healed, Regina heard rather than saw that the paramedics had arrived. They walked into the office with a gurney in tow, and before they turned toward her, they covered Daniel’s body with a white sheet.

“We’ve been trying to heal her, but her arm needs some more time...” Emma murmured even as her magic still worked through Regina’s body. The way Emma’s voice washed over her was similar to her magic, and Regina closed her eyes and took a moment to let it calm her to the core. It was nice, and she realized how lucky she was to be alive.

“Would you...would you need to go to the hospital, or can you heal it here?” One of the paramedics asked, and Regina felt Emma turn toward her.

“Regina?”

She blinked open her eyes, and frowned. “Hmm? I think...I think we can heal it here, I’ll just need your help.” She smiled softly at Emma even thought her exhaustion. “I don’t have a lot of energy left.” 

“Of course I’ll help,” Emma said, and then turned to the paramedics. “Can you take her outside on the gurney though?”

Regina protested, but let herself be helped onto the gurney anyway, and once she was settled with a warming blanket over her and her arm still splinted on her chest, she held up her good hand.

“I want you to check on Henry first.”

“We already did, Mills Mills. Your son is just fine.”

Someone placed a hand on her shoulder, and she tensed for a split second before she closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. She wanted to push the hand away, but all she did was incline her head.

“Thank you.”

“I need you to keep her out of sight as best as you can,” Emma said as the gurney started moving, and Regina kept her eyes closed as she listened to the calm that Emma possessed. “Bring her to the ambulance right away, we’ll need some quiet to heal her and if people find out that she’s safe...they’ll want to know everything.”

Regina could feel Emma’s presence, closely following the paramedics as she explained what she needed from them, and it calmed her and made her feel more than safe. She wanted to never let Emma go again, but she knew that was illogical.

She kept her eyes closed even as they rolled her outside, the cold air sending a shiver down her spine even as she burrowed beneath the blanket. The movement of the gurney sent painful pins and needles through her arm and she tried her best to hold it steady.

She kept her eyes closed as they talked around her, but all she could focus on was the pain in her arm. She tried to push at her magic to wake it up, to work without Emma’s help, but it wouldn’t even respond.

A door opened, and Regina could feel herself being rolled into the ambulance. When the door closed, the silence settled over her and she sighed in relief.

“Emma?”

“I’m here...” Emma’s voice was soft and Regina finally opened her eyes to look at Emma. She was watching her closely, her tears dried up on her cheeks. “I’m sorry that this happened to you.”

“You didn’t do this,” Regina replied, her mind trying to understand why Emma was apologizing.

“I know but he was after me...he wanted me to hurt and he used you to do it. I did this, even indirectly. And I’m sorry because I never thought...I never even thought that anyone could or would find me here,” she pursed her lips as a tear slipped down her cheek.

Regina took a moment to settle her scrambled thoughts, and then shook her head. “I’m alive, though.” She reached out her good hand and sighed in relief when Emma took her hand, magic washing over her and warming her from the inside. “A lot of the people I have hurt, might have tried to come after the people that I care about. There are a lot of creatures that hurt you because of the fact that you’re in a fairy tale town.”

“Emma scoffed and wiped at her eyes with her free hand. “But you were hurt because of my past.”

“I think this is something we can co back and forth on until we’re blue in the face,” Regina replied with a sigh. “But I...I really need to heal this arm, because I want..._need_ to give my son a hug.”

Emma blinked and chuckled at the change of subject, and then smiled softly as she nodded. “You’re right...let’s do this.”

They worked together in silence, their hands touching even as Emma’s free hand moved over Regina’s broken arm as she channeled all their combined magic. Regina gasped and gritted her teeth to stop herself from crying out as her bones mended.

The pain of healing bones was always the worst, but it was possible with a huge amount of magic and a lot of energy. She would be drained by the time they were done.

The time moved slowly and tears stained her cheeks by the time the pain faded a little and she knew that she was close to being healed, at least her body. She was in a haze, but blinked when suddenly, Emma’s voice broke through it.

“Okay...it’s okay, Regina...we’re almost done, you’re okay.”

The pain in her arm persisted but had lessened more than enough. The bones had mended, and as she tried out moving it, she found that she could use it without additional pain.

“Thank...thank you Emma.” Regina breathed out again and leaned her head back, her eyes closed as she tried to steady herself.

“I’m not with Hook.” Emma’s voice was quiet and Regina wasn’t sure that she’d heard it right. She opened her eyes before she blinked and turned toward Emma in surprise.

“What?”

“I heard you say that Copper should’ve gone after my boyfriend. But I’m not...he’s not my boyfriend.”

Something seemed to shift and the air between them crackled with tension, as Regina tried to understand what Emma was saying. “Oh.”

“Yea...” There was a silence that neither of them knew how to break.

Regina sat up slowly, her energy drained but her need to hug her son greater than her exhaustion. “Can we talk about this after I’ve seen Henry?”

She tried to get up, but grunted when everything spun around her and only stopped when Emma steadied her with a hand on her shoulder. “You need to take it easy.”

Regina glared at her. “I need to see my son, Emma.”

“Yes.” Emma stood to her feet and looked down at Regina sternly. “You wait here while I go get him. You need to slow down, because I know we didn’t take away all of your pain and you just...you’re drained.”

She leaned back, even though she didn’t want to admit to herself that she might even be to weak to stand on her feet, let alone walk around looking for Henry.

And so she found herself waiting as Emma went to get him. The doors to the ambulance had stayed open and Regina huddled into the blanket and stared out onto the street.

There was still more than enough going on and normally, she’d be involved in all of it as Mayor. She was just glad she could skip it for once.

“Mom!”

She shook herself out of her thoughts and blinked as she sat up, glancing around outside at the sound of his voice. When she saw him, her heart skipped a beat. He was unhurt, and she’d known this, but seeing him and seeing he wasn’t hurt, meant more than reassurances from anyone, even Emma.

“Henry,” She pushed herself to smile as she forcer her body to cooperate. She stood to shaky feet as he climbed into the ambulance and enveloped her into a tight embrace.

Her hands moved over his back, feeling for anything anyone might have missed, and then grabbed on to the back of his shirt. She closed her eyes against the burning of the salt and held her son close for a long time, not even bothering with saying anything.

Movement outside of the ambulance had her open her eyes, and even as a tear slipped down her cheek she locked eyes with Emma, who looked sheepishly apologetic. She stepped to the side and Archie name into view, a gentle smile on his face.

“Hey, Regina,” he murmured softly in his special kind of way, with his special kind of smile. She gently pushed away from Henry, but only far enough so that she could make it out of the ambulance with his help. He stayed as close to her as she let him, as if he didn’t want to let go, and she knew the feeling all too well.

“Doctor Hopper.”

How are you feeling, Regina? Emma told me about the magical healing session you had together...” He seemed nervous to ask her and she leaned against the tail of the ambulance, debating on what to tell the doctor.

“I’m in pain...I’m exhausted,” she replied and he inclined his head. “But...that will be over before the week is.”

“Of course,” He shuffled on his feet and for a split second, she wanted to take pity on him. “I...well, I wanted you to know that my door is always open for you, Regina...if you need it.”

She inclined her head, and he turned around. She took a breath, and then another before she clenched her jaw. Sure, she didn’t want to talk about what happened, but she knew that she had to if she wanted to keep her sanity. She knew she had to talk about what happened, and everything this situation had triggered, so that she wouldn’t slip into old habits.

And so she pushed herself up from the tail of the ambulance and cleared her throat, stopping him in his tracks. Her throat tightened painfully, and she pushed through another wave of tears. “I think I might need an appointment, Doctor Hopper.”


End file.
